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Defense – not offense – rules the day in NFL

For all of the talk about the NFL being allÂ too kind toÂ offenses, a quick glance at the remaining playoffs teams reveals the contrary.

All four teams left in the NFL postseason are ranked in the top six in scoring defense. And while they might not have the high-powered offenses that draw the biggest ratings, it’s probably no surprise that defensive-minded teamsÂ are the ones left standings.

The popular theory is that offense is everywhere. Receivers can get away with everything. You can’t hit the quarterback anymore. All that jazz.

Point being it’s easy for teams to generate offense now. But the teams that stand out are the ones that despite – all of the rules that favor offense – are still able to be sound defensive teams. And I think that applies to the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers.

As for my predictions, you’ll find them on D3 of Sunday’s Forum. But in case you missed it, here they are:

Four storied franchises hook up in what should be a couple of pretty good conference championship games.
The New York Jets have been world beaters so far this postseason. After all, when you beat a team like the Jets did last week, thereâ€™s no other term that can be used. The New England Patriots had dominated throughout the final eight weeks of the regular season, yet the Jets took down the Super Bowl favorites. However, this is familiar territory for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Iâ€™ll take experience.
And for just the second time in NFLâ€ˆhistory, the Bears and Packers meet in a playoff game. These two teams split the regular-season series, though the Bears werenâ€™t playing for anything when they met in Week 17 loss to GB.Bears 27, Packers 21
Steelers 23, Jets 13Â